The Star-Ledger had exclusive access to watch the filming of the video and Parise spoke to me just prior to the shooting in which he was shown with his right leg in a whirlpool tub while watching the NHL Network.

Parise, who was engaged in early August and will be married next July back home in Minnesota, discussed the loss of center Travis Zajac, who underwent surgery Aug. 18 to repair a torn Achilles tendon.

“Pretty similar to me, he’s in a brace for six weeks,” Parise said. “He can’t put any pressure on it. Then you get into the muscle building. You have to build your muscle back before you can even start skating. It’s a long recovery. When I talked to him he said it was going to be 4-6 months.”

Four months would be mid-December. Zajac told Parise he hopes to be back in time to play in the Devils’ Dec. 3 game in his hometown of Winnipeg.

“It’s tough because he’s a guy that plays a lot,” Parise noted. “He plays in every situation. He’s your best faceoff guy, best penalty-killer. He’s on the ice when it’s 3-on-5. He’s on the ice when we’re on a 5-on-3. Those guys are tough to replace, but we’ll move guys around and have to make do until he gets back.

“Any team in the league that loses its top centerman, that’s tough to replace. For me personally, we’ve always played really well together. We have good chemistry on the ice. We’re roommates on the road and we’re pretty good buddies. It’s going to be a tough loss for us all, but we don’t have any choice.”

Patrik Elias is likely to remain at center rather than go back to left wing while rookie Adam Henrique has a chance to make the club.

“Who knows what the lines are going to be,” Parise said. “I guess if there was any question of (Elias) playing center or not this year, I guess now for sure he’ll be playing center.”

Parise was limited to 13 games last season when he required surgery Nov. 1 to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. After missing 65 games, he returned on April 2 to play against the Canadiens but was sore afterwards and decided to sit out the final three games and practices.

Certainly Parise can talk Zajac through this ordeal.

“I think for him it’s still the summertime so he doesn’t have to watch anybody play,” Parise said. “I’m sure once we start playing and traveling and talking to teammates, that’s when you get down in the dumps a little bit.”

As for his own right knee, Parise said he feels fine.

“I know I’m 100 percent. I skate and I work out and I have no issues with it. Of course it gets sore after a workout but I really have no concerns,” he said.

“It came down to the end of the season last year. We had five games left and we weren’t in the playoffs. I know I wasn’t 100 percent then, so I’d rather take the five months and make sure. I’m glad I got the one game. That was enough.”

Parise, who signed a new one-year, $6 million deal with the Devils on July 29, thereby avoiding a salary arbitration hearing, said the two sides have not yet talked about a multi-year extension.

“It was more of a timeline technicality (to avoid salary arbitration) where we agreed on a one-year thing,” Parise said of the one-year agreement. “We’re going to keep talking and go forward from there, I guess. The plan hasn’t changed. We haven’t talked yet but I wasn’t expecting to get a phone call the next day.”

He is anxious to get started with new coach Peter DeBoer.

“I’ve had a little bit of discussion with him,” Parise said. “Just from seeing what he writes and what he talks about I like what he’s saying. The way his team played in Florida—aggressive—I think that’s something we need. It’s in-your-face, aggressive and the ‘D’ pinching. That’s how we need to play. I think it will be good for us and a welcome change.”

He also expects to be back in the playoffs after missing last season.

“I think so. I think we’re all optimistic about it,” Parise said. “I think the team you saw in the second half was more indicative of what we are. I’m not saying we’re going to go 25-3 every 28 games, but I think you’ll see more of that consistent winning from the beginning of the season. We all have high expectations and high hopes.”

The Devils will certainly be a younger team without veterans like Brian Rolston and Colin White.

“Unless something happens in the next couple of weeks it’s going to be a lot younger,” Parise said. “It’s funny. The last six years, even though I was getting older there were no younger guys coming in. It seems like in one year all of a sudden I’m one of the older guys. It’s not a good feeling. It’s definitely going to be a younger team.”

“Terrible. I’m sure on 30 teams across the league everyone knew or played with somebody on that plane,” Parise reflected. “It’s so unfortunate and sad.

“We’ve already heard from the (Players’ Association) and the league to try to make sure these type of things (the deaths of the three enforcers) don’t happen. It’s not only hockey. It’s everywhere. It’s in every work place and in everyone’s job. We’ve never really seen it in hockey and now we get hit with it pretty hard in one summer. It’s unfortunate we had all these things happen this summer.”

The Devils lost young prospect Alexander Vasyunov in the plane crash.

“So sad. So young,” Parise said. “I was looking online at the pictures of all the guys. You click on him and it’s so sad. It’s terrible.”

* * *

The NHL held its second day of its players publicity tour today at the Prudential Center.

Henry Doernberg, a copywriter from Glen Ridge, was fortunate to be a stand-in goalie as the league's stars were filmed on the ice in the AmeriHealth Pavilion.

Doernberg faced shots from players such as Alex Ovechkin and Jonathan Toews while buddy Adam Porter fed pucks to the NHL stars.

"I'm real excited. It's been a lot of fun," Doernberg said of the two days. "Martin St. Louis was really fun. I personally got a big kick meeting (Bruins goalie) Tim Thomas. I'm excited to meet Zach Parise."

Doernberg, who does freelance advertisement work, plays pickup hockey a few times a week at Codey Arena in West Orange.